Gears of War 3 - The delay, the wait and the future

So we were all looking forward to the day in April 2011 when GOW3 finally found itself nestled spinningly in our XBox machines. That won't happen till the fall now, not Cliffy's fault but a commercial decision to make GOW3 the season's big seller. 

The consolation prize is, however, a beta version of the multiplayer which we'll be able to test online. That'll do pig, that'll do. Now it's safe to say all GOW fans are still pretty peeved at the delay, but at least we have the teaser to keep us going.

The question is, however, what do we do after it's all over? I have a few suggestions and maybe you will have some too. Feel free share.

1. A prequel. Most obvious, take us back to E-day or even the Pendulum Wars. I favor the former as the Locusts are central to gameplay. I don't think I'll dig fighting/killing humans as much (that'll make it more like the Earthbound titles like COD or MOH). 

2. A Cole 'Train'/Baird series? Now I'm not sure how a story without Marcus would fly, but these two characters have enough charisma to carry a game, and with a little fleshing out and backstory we can add depth to their exploits. Of course one could build a game around Dom and family too. 

3. A fill-in-the-gaps Cole/Baird DL. Might sound weird but I wouldn't mind playing as Cole and Baird on the missions they took on while we played as Dom and Fenix in the first two instalments. Gap fillers have a lot of potential and could include games based on the gaps between each game. 

4. Retrofitting. I can foresee anniversary editions of GOWI with reconstituted visuals - suped up and with new scenes or missions. The deleted scene was a great addition to GOWII and could be a great survey of how similar supplements can be incorporated in any or all of the instalments and any time. This is cool and doesn't necessarily change the integrity or flow of the game as we now know it. 

5. Online innovation. Epic already gives us plenty of surprises online. What with Boomer only Hoard missions, Beast Mode, new map packs and multiplied experience points, and the 4-way campaign among other things, the online possibilities are endless. There's no reason why after the third and final chapter new weaponry, beasts, executions or even characters can't be added or more maps based on the novels included. 

6. The comic as a resource. Lastly for me, the comic and novels have a life of their own and have the potential to breathe more life into the game. Pretty simple.

A part of me (and I'm sure all of us) doesn't want it to end here and sorta believes it won't. At the same time we don't want what happened to The Matrix to happen to GOW. Sometimes just enough really is good enough. 

Dead Space 2: Severed (Spoiler Alert)

Developer: Visceral Games

Console: DLC on Xbox 360, PS3 

Genre: Horror survival, third-person shooter

Rating: Mature 17+

Well the Dead Space 2 fest continues on Game Hedz, and the short 2-chapter Severed DLC gets even higher ratings than its full-length bigger brother! Here's why:

Severed is way scarier than DS2 - but only because of DS2. You play Gabe Weller, Sprawl denizen (I love that word 'denizen'), who is desperately trying to save his pregnant wife from Unitologist loyalists during the same 'outbreak' Isaac wakes up to in the main story. You essentially go back on Isaac's path, passing through the mines and hospital wing (among other places) where Clarke's nightmare begins. As such you are filled with dread at the daunting familiarity of the setting - only it all looks much worse as you navigate the remnants of the Isaac/Necromorph carnage. 

The game somehow feels fresh and more savage with what appears to be stronger, faster Nercos - maybe it's just my mind playing tricks on me (it tends to do that), but the mind game is the horror. You start the game in media res (look it up - I had to) and so are equipped with partially upgraded weapons and have access to some of the equipment garnered in DS2, if you sprang the cash for the DLC equipment/suit/weapons packs - which are just ok, if you ask me. 

The story pulls you in, and unlike DS2's plot line, this one has you asking more questions, and even suggests some possibility of a sequel, despite the finality of the ending. 

Frankly, if you've enjoyed  the Dead Space experience you will love Severed - it's intense, bloody, edgy and even kind of heart-wrenching (I didn't cry...alot). And oh, when last I checked it wasn't available on PC. Depending on your skill level and the difficulty setting you could finish it in a couple hours, and there are a few achievements to be had too. 

To play it, insert the DS2 disc 1, and select 'new game'. It will give you the option to play Severed. 

Oh, importantly, while I was writing this blog I won passes for me n' 4 friends to the Aloft Hotel splash pool (I think it's a pool), here in Abu Dhabi, courtesy of Radio 1's Sheena Show (I was not, repeat, not forced by Sheena on national radio to include this in my blog, and if that thought crossed your mind, shame on you!)! Thanks Sheena you rock (also not forced to say by use of radio presenter Jedi mind tricks, I think). 

Score: 9.5/10  Recommendation: Get it and get it now! 

Arabs in the Media: The Perennial Enemy?

Recently, Electronic Arts Medal of Honor faced the wrath of war time USA, when it was essentially forced to change the option for gamers to play as the 'Taliban' after protests from military personnel and family of servicemen, among others. 

Member of the 'Opposing Force' in Medal of Honor

While the 'Taliban' title was changed to 'Opposing Force' the furore does raise the issue of what is acceptable and to whom, in the gaming world. For years, Arab's and Russians have been easy enemies in US military games, and in the Sony's SOCOM series, for example, you dispatch Arabs and Russians by the dozen. And even the very recent release, Homefront, has a downtrodden America invaded and occupied by a 'Greater Korean Republic' (complete with nuclear arsenal). But these are 'traditional' enemies of the US (North Korea being part of Cheney's 'Axis of Evil'), so killing them is 'no problem' (COD Black Ops set circa 1960's Cold War includes Cuba, Vietnam and Laos along with Russia). But how would an Arab or Russian feel about that?

Those who protested the inclusion of the term 'Taliban' make a point. It hits close to home for those who have lost loved ones to the war in Afghanistan or who live with the knowledge that it's always a possibility. But that's only from the American point of view. Let's face it, political issues determine much of the content of military games. Certainly in Medal of Honor's case. 

Arabs (and all non-whites) have the tendency to be typecast in American media - they are usually the terrorist. That this is nothing new only compounds the problem because it doesn't seem to be going away. The bulk of console games (and developers) are produced in the West, so they are designed with Western sensibilities, perspective and markets in mind. Fair enough. But the gaming world is well....the world. Do the heroes have to be portrayed by Western, and usually white, characters?

Take Dead Space 2 - no doubt one of my favourites and I wouldn't change a thing about the characters. But for arguments sake; it's set in space in a fictional place and time. Race, nationality or ethnic origin can't be that much of a factor can it? Would it matter if Isaac Clarke was Ahmad Abdullah or Rajiv Singh? Now that I've said it out loud...maybe it would.

It may be a self-perpetuating cycle. The constant affirmation of stereotypes make it difficult for us to accept anything outside of them, and perhaps an Indian superhero or Arab 'good guy' is just too unbelievable. As it is, minority groups must justify their presence in Western media through their minority status. A black guy must be, well black and 'ghetto', an Arab must be a terrorist and a Chinese guy a Karate expert. 

An interesting article in the LATimes looked at the issue of Arab stereotyping in the US which increased post 9/11, and cited the frustration some Arab Americans feel regarding the narrow range their ethnicity attracts. But in the gaming world the voice is what matters - race may not have to be an issue regarding finding work. But the issue here isn't so much work as it is perception. 

The big question: How does the Arab world feel about all this? Your turn.

The Psychology of Dead Space 2 & Dead Space: Severed

Do you remember the time?

I'm not a Shrink, but my favourite part of Dead Space 2 and the supplemental game, Severed, is the psychological element of memory - in this case ours, rather than Isaac's (whose voice is excellently portrayed by Gunner Wright).

Throughout DS2 we are occasionally treated to Isaac's flashbacks, that is one layer of memory, but the Visceral guys show their quality when they introduce our own memories by taking us through the Ishimura. There are only two scenes, if I'm not mistaken, where you have game-embedded flashbacks in this chapter: when your leg is suddenly grabbed by the giant tentacled beast and when a window is broken by a beast's claw. All other flashbacks you experience are your own, gathered through your play through of Dead Space. 

I was amazed at how much I remembered as I went through each area of the ‘Ishimura-under-refurbishment’. Each location conjured a memory of the relevant episode in the game, and you almost expect to find some relic from the incident that took place there - even an audio log from one of your two associates, Daniels and Hammond (which actually would have been a very cool thing to have added in the Ishimura chapter). I distinctly recalled the first time I witnessed a Necromorph killing just outside the room where you collect the plasma cutter, and the location where a savaged human bangs his head sickeningly against a pipe until dead. In short, Visceral didn't need to include flashbacks because your own experience provided them all.

Possible spolier

Now Severed. I actually think this short addendum to DS 2 was scarier than Isaac's main story - but only because of the main story. If you haven't played it yet you will soon see what I mean. But this story (featuring Gabe Weller trying to rescue his wife from Unitology loyalists) takes place pretty much simultaneously with Isaac's and you essentially retrace his steps going against his path. Among other areas, you walk through the lab where Isaac watched Stross' treatment video record and the very location from which Isaac first escaped, only this time you get to enter the cells you pass in the mad dash to safety. Again, an important part of Severed is your own memories/flashbacks. One of the most chilling scenes is finding the dead Dr Foster exactly where Isaac left him after he slit his own throat. 

As Gabe Weller, you essentially walk through the carnage that Isaac and the Necromorph menace have left behind. And that's what's terrifying. You say to yourself 'why am I doing this? This is the last place I want to be!' You kind of feel like things are even worse than Isaac left them somehow. You feel as if instead of escaping this madness you are only going deeper into it, and this is the essence of horror - not what you see or do - but what you feel.

The Dead Space 2 Experience (less review, more wuhoo!)

Developer: Visceral Games

Console: Xbox 360, PS3, PC,

Genre: Horror survival, third-person shooter

Rating: Mature 17+

If you haven’t played Dead Space or DS2, the gods of gaming should, & likely will, curse you with gingivitis & athlete’s foot, in that order. So, this review is less about the game itself and more about the experience surrounding the DS 2 launch and the accompanying and continuing fanfare. 

The guys at Visceral did an amazing job immersing us in all things Dead as the we prepared for the launch. We were treated to the 'Your Mom Hates Dead Space' video, Questions with Steve, the Dead Space animated comic series, wallpapers, Ignition and more, all before the release. After getting the game (which I have played about 35 thousand and five gazzilion times) we got downloadable weapons/tools/suits, Severed, the iPhone iteration, and I even had the chance to chat with Sonita Henry, the voice of Elle Langford! Awoooga! We have been properly spoiled. 

I say all this to tactlessly tip off the other franchises, with their upcoming releases, to watch and learn! This is how you release a game. Sure a lot of the content isn't free, though a lot is, but a price tag isn't the point anyway. DS fans appreciated all the effort and attention because we felt like it was a kind of collective ride of which we were all a part.

No doubt Visceral set the bar, and good job as they were the first of the many sequels to release in 2011. Mind you, what they admittedly have is a dense back storyline from which to trawl all the content, but they were not obligated in any way to give the 'in-between' stories, like Ignition (featuring Franco who revives Isaac in the beginning of DS2 and then promptly and unceremoniously gets smoked - like all black guys in horror movies do).  But it means so much that they did (a tears wells in my right...no left eye).

My wish is that something similar happens with the Gears of War franchise. We're all conflicted with eager anticipation of the final part, while dreading the end of the series. The best case scenario is prequels and storygap fillers. What happened on E-Day or even before? What happened that led Marcus to incarceration? What about the intervening 18 months between GOW 2 and 3? And then the graphic novels and books have plenty of content to supply even supplemental games like Severed.

Anyway, nuff said. Right now Visceral is getting all the praise. They should. They deserve it. 

Rating: 9/10 Recommendation: Get it, keep it…or else! What you’re still reading this – go!

2011: The Greatest Year for Gaming! (so far)

The return of the sequel!
This year may very well be the most awesomest year for gaming ever in the history of awesome years for gaming! And why you ask? The Sequel, that's why.

There have been a series of really good games coming out over the past few years; Gears of War 1 & 2 (2006 & 2008 respectively), Dead Space (a quiet release in 2008), Mass Effect 1 & 2 (2007 & 2010 respectively) and Dragon Age (2009), to name a few. But the first or second instalments of each, as the case may be, managed to have its own time in the spotlight, or in the case of Dead Space, no spotlight, as it gained popularity at a slow boil. As you can see by the years of release, there was very little convergence of titles.

But this year sequels for all of the above, and then some, will be or have been released. Unlike the doomed sequel in the film world (you know yourselves...Martix Revolutions and company), game developers seem to improve on their subsequent titles. Gears 2, ME 2 and DS 2 have all proven that. Maybe game developers should get into the movie-making business (I'm looking at you Wachowski Brothers! If that is your real name). 

One year, many parts

This year alone will see the release of Gears 3, Mass Effect 3, Crysis 2, Batman: Arkham City, Dragon Age 2 (maybe even Modern Warfare 3), and we've already enjoyed the return of the mild-mannered, kick buttin' nerd cum Necromorph dismembererer, Isaac Clarke. Damned marker. Oh, all these trailers are in one convenient place right here.

Gamers all around the world are giddy with excitement and have been treated, nay, spoiled, by all the material, free and otherwise, that is and will come along with the build up to game releases. DS 2 has set the pace being the first out of the gate. The build up was incredible as fans were deluged with animated comics, screen savers and wall paper, the hysterical 'Your Mom Hates Dead Space 2' video, the iPhone/iPad episode of the game as well as the Severed add-on and of course, Questions with Steve. Shoot, I even had the privilege of chatting with Sonita Henry (voice of DS2's Ellie Langford) on her Facebook page! Awesome. 

Now, we are on the verge of experiencing the Gears of War 3 multiplayer Beta between April 25 and May 15 - buy the Bulletstorm Epic Edition and get it a week early. Epic owes GOW fans for the 5 month delay, so the Beta release is a little bribe - but if they are smart, they will make like a love-struck suitor and entreat us with many and copious gifts as a way of apology and to win our forgiveness. If the other franchises are smart they won't let DS 2 or GOW3 outdo them (hint, hint).

The only loser is boredom & maybe your boss

Make no mistake, because of the convergence of all these hotly anticipated titles (of which GOW 3 is officially 'the most') both developers and gamers win (although your boss might wonder why you keep falling asleep at your desk and peer suspiciously at the AC vents - only DS fans will get that). They get lots of sales, we get lots of excellent content and game play. Oh, and Microsoft and Sony will be laughing all the way to the bank. You should probably buy shares right about now.

This is the first - but not the last of this here gaming blog. Watch this space for more as the gaming world in the Middle East takes off!